Very good! I read this last night on my phone and had to make a decision... So, yes, CJ and Owen are trying to have a baby and Gina is their surrogate. Apologies to anyone who had not figured it out yet.
Several reasons for how short that section was:
Typical of the author to drop crumbs and expect readers to figure out the details.
It'll be articulated a bit later, but I've been trying to show CJ learning how not to dwell on bad things and look to the future. It's why he's so decisive when friends face issues.
Although it was over 20 years ago, someone I know was one of the first IVF babies born in the US. They were even featured in LIFE magazine. The procedure has evolved and improved but the sight of the pregnant mother's belly button is still with me. That's where they put the needles through and it was a mess. It took a bunch of tries before it took. I remember the father complaining about how often he had to masturbate
Because there's plenty of drama starting in the next chapter, I did not want to play this one up. I never really settled in my mind if it was a miscarriage or a failure of the embryo to take. Either way, it would have been very early in the process (remember Gina was still drinking at the HRC Gala in November.) Owen, and more so CJ with his practical approach, would have been disappointed but not disheartened. This was a setback and they had to be ready for those.
Finally, I wanted to hint at what was going on, but I wanted the timing to be right so their kid would be born on the proper day. The story's timeline and real life are in synch right now so look for a little one sometime next year. Thiago's kid is first ut there will be a couple more births before the big one. I need to populate their son or daughter's playmate pool. LOL